The Trouble with Rouge
by Allybalybee
Summary: Rouge is forced to come to terms with an unwanted reminder of her past. Knuckles meanwhile gets tangled up in the whole affair and comes along for the ride! Final chapters four and five are up, has Knuckles bitten off more than he can chew?
1. A Morning Scroll

The Trouble with Rouge

Chapter One 

It had been a very strange morning for Knuckles the Echidna from the Floating Island. Knuckles was a simple sort of fellow who liked to follow his set routine and look hard. Usually he would polish the emeralds, check they were at full power and following this a hefty three hour training schedule in martial arts. Break for lunch followed, then a check of the emeralds once more and a five hour stint surveying all the island's individual zones. He was happy with his routine and hated anyone disrupting it.

So imagine our echidna's surprise to find himself wandering around in a dank, cold and dark cave with Rouge the bat, a female acquaintance who enjoyed stealing his emeralds.

"This better be worth it Rouge… I'm an echidna not a mole you know, I don't make a habit of scrambling around in the dark."

"Stop complaining Knuckie you'll be the one thanking me when we get there."

Rouge the bat had appeared with the highly untrustworthy news that a scroll belonging to the echidnas was rumoured to have turned up in the Mystic Caves.

"And what exactly would be doing there?" Knuckles had replied.

"No man is an island Knux. The echidnas must have traded goods with the world below at some point and I bet you didn't know the Mystic Caves used to be a diamond mines. The old colony that existed there probably traded jewels for the scrolls. So I would imagine it contains some pretty important information," Plausible but something about Rouge's story didn't quite add up.

"Of course I'd be quite happy to keep the scroll for myself but well I felt like I owed you one from the Ark, call it a permanent debt repayment."

So despite the feelings of paranoia and mistrust Knuckles had followed the bat to the Mystic Caves. To add to the sense of unease which he felt about rumours of the caves being haunted the echidna was sure they were being followed.

The Mystic Caves were said to be one of the first zones containing civilization on Mobius. Hundreds of years with mazes of underground tunnels and honey combed chambers. The green and yellow ivy had twisted itself around the metal struts Robotnik had planted more recently although this too was over fourteen years ago. The rusty remains of defeated badniks littered the landscape and the few remaining lanterns flickered, casting eerie shadows.

They had reached the mouth of a much larger cave and began to descend into the dark depths. Rouge relied on her bat senses to guide them through but Knuckles was almost blind, he was also desperately trying not to hold Rouge's hand by accident.

"If you stick closer to me you won't fall over as much," She teased.

"I can manage," He grunted back.

There it was again Rouge thought, the extra pair of feet tracking behind them. No matter, she was almost back and then she would be able to resolve this whole ugly mess. Ahead of them out of the darkness something began to glow. It grew with such intensity that the two companions both began to shield their eyes against the glare.

"GET DOWN!" Rouge yelled diving for the floor.

As the ball of light smashed into the air above them Knuckles could only make the faintest outline of a dark figure some two metres ahead. He felt around for Rouge but she wasn't nearby.

"What the hell?" Rouge cursed as she could feel her arms being pressed awkwardly behind her back. She tried to wrestle free but her captor's strength was astounding.

"Nice to see you Fiancée," A male voice hissed in her right ear.

"Scaris," She replied grimly. "Been a nice long while."

"Spare the chit chat Rougie we've got some unfinished business."

Rouge smiled and kicked the bat's shins smartly to free herself. The next second Scaris was hurdled over head and landed painfully on the cave floor.

Knuckles stopped dead and listened intently. He began to shake his head in disbelief – what on Mobius was going on?

"We need to go," Rouge growled taking him by the hand and plunging into another chamber on the far left. They continued to head left, then right and then left again before finally coming to a stop to catch their breath.

"We're meant to be looking for echidna scrolls," Knuckles choked. "What the hell is going on?"

"There's no scroll Knuckie."

"NO SCROLL!"

Yes, it was turning out to be a very strange morning indeed…


	2. Beauty and the Bat

Chapter Two

Scaris had caught up to them.

"Been twelve years hasn't it Rougie? Long time no see, not even a postcard."

In this particular chamber it was significantly brighter than before and at last they could see Rouge's fiancé Scaris in all his batty glory. He was an extravert in every way. A green furred bat with black stripes on his enormous ears and well toned body. He wore a bandana and even sported a solid gold tooth when he smiled. A black leather belt hung around his waist with a silver dagger swinging precariously with every step he took. Whereas Rouge covered herself with defensive body armour Scaris held no such worries about his own mortal being. A deep black scar ran from the top left of his ear to his cheek.

"Not long enough for me," Rouge snapped back. "I've moved on."

Scaris hammered a closed fist into the female bat's ribcage and patiently caught her as she fell. He took a deep breath and smelt her fur grinning to himself.

Rouge caught by surprise was gasping for air and threw her arms out between their two bodies trying to escape.

Scaris pressed her against the wall, pinning her ears back and rubbing his nose against hers.

"You're mine," He whispered savagely. "Now watch the show like a good girl while I finish off your little friend."

Scaris made a charge at Knuckles with frightening determination. He unsheathed his dagger and began carving up the air in front of him.

The echidna somersaulted backwards and watched out the corner of his eye as the bat quickly changed direction to follow him. As he landed the bat was mere seconds behind him and formulated a new plan of attack.

Knuckles headed for open ground further up the tunnel. There was no point trapping himself with no space to manoeuvre in these caves. Scaris followed and smirked as his opponent climbed onto the walls far above him.

"Running away up there are we? Don't know much about bats do you?" His black wings exploded into action taking off with immense speed.

This however was what Knuckles had been banking on and he glided to a nearby stalactite hanging from the ceiling. As Scaris drew near he began to punch the centre making it crack in the middle. The spike was now hanging by on a thread he let go and glided back to the side wall as Scaris was caught full in the face.

The stalactite and the bat fell awkwardly tangled up together. The impact sent a cloud of dust in the air and caught the attention of a number of other bats nearby. Suddenly Knuckles was surrounded by hundreds of pairs of beady little eyes and sharp white teeth.

Scaris had survived but the golden tooth which he prided himself on was missing. He crawled out from underneath the debris and shakily got to his feet. He glared at the echidna with his sky blue eyes intent on revenge.

"This is nothing to do with you outsider and don't waste your breath or energy on that bitch. She's nothing but a traitor, she deserves what she gets."

"That is enough Scaris."

All the bats gasped and instantly dispersed back to their everyday business. Scaris spat and tried to stop the bleeding from where his tooth had been 'removed'.

"My name is Chiroptera," The elder female said. "I am the chieftain of the Mystic Cave bats. Those spike formations are well over three hundred years old I would ask you not to remove anymore young man, or you could find yourself facing the wrath of the whole colony," She turned to two bigger male bats and pointed to Knuckles. "Take our spirited red friend to the stream to cool off."

Rouge opened her eyes and upon seeing Chiroptera instantly moaned.

"You have quite the gift Rouge," Chiroptera grinned slyly. "Only you could cause so much trouble in so little time."


	3. Family

Chapter Three

Perched on the highest ledge in the centre of the bat's home was Chiroptera's base of operations. Countless pieces of yellow parchment were tacked to the walls. Jobs were assigned to every member of the colony from hunter gatherers to child care. There were hundred of names recorded including deaths and births. Chiroptera had always taken a keen interest in her people, it was important for their organisation. Everyone had a place and everyone pitched in, no exceptions. Rouge could saw her name circled in red ink and underlined several times.

It had been four years since the care free bat had last laid eyes on her the old chieftain. She looked battered and weather worn. Her once white furry body had faded to a dirty grey and her face was lined, heavy with wrinkles. The one thing that never changed however was the look of disgust she held whenever Rouge was in close range.

"So where exactly have you been all this time? Scaris had quite a job tracking you down."

"It _was_ you who sent Scaris after me. He's been tracking my movements for months – my ex fiancé who has absolutely nothing to do with me anymore. What the hell possessed you? I've made a new life for myself and I am quite content living without you and the blasted colony!"

"Oh yes that's right, the famous treasure hunter and government spy, seducing and stealing jewels - aren't you living the high life?" The bat leader raised her spectacles even higher up her pointy nose and studied the younger bat with intense contempt. "You act and look like a whore, my grand daughter - a common tart and a thief!"

"At least I'm _free_." Rouge cried out flushing red with anger. Why had she come back? She knew this would happen families are the worst things to run away from. They have a habit of coming back to haunt you. She shook her head. No, this was going to be the last time. She'd been right to leave smothering herself in the chains her grandmother was so keen to hand over would only have turned her into a hollow shell.

"What do you mean by that nonsense? You've had your little holiday but now you are going to take up your duties and conform. How dare you run away leaving me with such a burden at my age! If your mother Kathleen could see you now - the Rouge Bat freak show. I can only imagine her shame bringing you up properly with manners and for what, to be betrayed and spat upon?"

Chiroptera had spread her grey crumbled wings to full span. Her deceptively fragile looking frame now towered over Rouge, as a teacher does to a child being taught a valuable lesson. Her hazel eyes burned, twisting and swirling like the flames inside a furnace as she barked out more words of venom.

Rouge folded her arms and smiled back at the old bat. It was surprisingly easy to let the words wash over her they were nothing but the ramblings of an old woman.

"You want me to produce a kid for the bloodline, Scaris wants my inheritance, the colony wants someone to shout at them and what exactly do I gain from this arrangement? Nothing I actually desire to have!"

Chiroptera felt suddenly weary, Rouge was as strong and stubborn as her mother. She couldn't believe that once upon a time they had all been so close.

"Don't be so dramatic. I appreciate that your mother should be sitting where I am but she isn't. That is a fact of life. Scaris is your future, the colony needs you both otherwise chaos will ensue. A new feud to claim the rights of a new bloodline would spell disaster. You can see for yourself that my end is coming and I can't carry on like this forever! Rouge, you were selfish and a child back then but you can still turn things around."

"Scaris is a bastard and completely unsuitable to be anything but a bully and a tyrant," she growled, "I never liked tradition and I certainly don't intend to start following it now. Marrying Scaris isn't an option and I only came back to finish severing the ties with the colony once and for all. You can think bitchy thoughts and even try good old emotional blackmail but, the truth is you're just jealous because I had the bite to leave first."

Chiroptera slapped her grand daughter across the face, it stung.

Rouge backed away still smirking but nursing her already throbbing cheek. Perhaps she gone too far this time but then it felt so very satisfying. It had been worth all the trouble just to see that her grandma was in fact capable of losing her cool. She was just an ordinary bat after all. It felt strange, like a bubble had just popped. An ordinary bat how could that be? As a youngster Rouge had looked up to her like a god.

"What of this… echidna you have brought with you?" Chiroptera snarled.

"All you care about is your retirement, so if Scaris disappears then you can choose another heir"

Chiroptera suddenly froze. She realised the loophole that the cocky bat was trying to exploit. Of course if Rouge fought Scaris and won it would be a direct challenge for leadership and she would stand down. However if a challenger was willing to dispose of Scaris on behalf of the tricky little bitch, a new heir could indeed be chosen. Rouge would be free to go and never return.

"Whatever you're scheming it won't work. You will have a very hard time convincing Scaris to simply disappear," Chiroptera's sharp gaze had returned. It probed and burrowed relentlessly seeking the truth and at this moment it had reached the conclusion of a sceptic, "besides that echidna hasn't the faintest idea what's going on does he?"

Rouge's eyes opened wide for only the slightest moment but it was enough to see Chiroptera's nod of confirmation. She was plotting another way to make her grand daughter extremely uncomfortable. Rouge may have abandoned the colony but her grandmother wasn't about to make her exit that easy.

"Fine tell him, tell him the truth so he can see what a worthless, traitorous coward you really are. I can not believe that after all this time you still haven't grown up! GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

As Rouge prepared to launch into a full scale protest she was removed from the hut and rather unceremoniously dumped outside. She was outraged, tell Knuckles about her past? No way! Feeling the stare of Chiroptera boring into her skull she picked herself up and gave her dear grandma a two fingered salute. Then she slowly dragged her way back to the stream where Knuckles was no doubt impatiently waiting.

The colony hadn't changed all that much, the nursery roosts were a hive of activity with young pups taking their first hesitant flaps into the air. A particularly nervous male brushed against Rouge's head as he made contact with the jagged rocky wall. She sniffed with disgust, remembering her first flight and how impeccable it was. Her mother had been an excellent teacher, one of the few things she actually got right. Then of course there was the cave in and everything had changed.

She could see him now, hunched over trying to skim pebbles across the stream. He wasn't very good his current pebble had plummeted to the bottom with a heavy 'thunk'. Rouge picked up another pebble and felt its smoothness. She skimmed the stone. It skipped right across the other side and landed perfectly – she still had the touch.

The echidna turned around, "Show off," he said grinning.

The bat sat down a few metres away and remained silent. Something was obviously wrong she looked deflated. Knuckles couldn't help but admire her even now. She was completely different to all the women he had ever met. His sheltered life on the island had denied him the experience or sight of the female form. Strange but powerful emotions had awakened since Rouge had exploded into his life. He had no idea what they meant and it scared him. The flip side of feeling like this was that he had never felt so alive. The master emerald was important but looking after a hunk of rock was a chore. He hated to admit it but having his routine thrown out the window felt good.

"How are the ribs?"

Rouge's hands instantly flew to her chest they still hurt but in the conflict with Chiroptera she had forgotten all about them. He'd just taken it all in his stride, no idea that Scaris was a maniac and wouldn't think twice about carving him up with his dagger. Scaris was obsessed and Rouge didn't like to think that she might be frightened of what he was capable of but it stuck out at the back of her mind. She wondered what sort of lover Knuckles would be and then felt her heart twinge. He hated lies and she was just full of them, it would be impossible.

"I need a favour," she began, "a big favour."

"I don't usually do favours for people who lie to me. They tried to throw me in the stream by the way – but do you care? No!"

Rouge smiled painfully. She was struggling now not usually being the type of person who went for straight talk. It was rather difficult to make the echidna understand without unravelling her family business. She felt physically sick unable to wear her 'Rouge' mask. She needed help but didn't have the faintest idea how to ask for it.

"Oh heck," she swallowed hard. He was looking at her again, she had to tell him, "I do _care_ but I also need that favour. I need you to beat Scaris in a little fight for me."

Rouge wrapped her arms around herself and scowled. It was all so terribly unfair they were pretty evenly matched. Her height and lower body strength were fantastic advantages it would be over so very quickly except… if she wanted to be free of this place for good it wasn't the way to go.

"Are you trying to get away from Scaris?" Knuckles suddenly asked. His amethyst eyes were shining in the dim light, his handsome features clouded with confusion. "You took a bit of a knock back there you don't usually let people beat you up. What's going on, Rouge?"

"I just need you to do it." She gasped and then immediately turned away in embarrassment, she hadn't meant to sound so breathless. He was trying to be the knight in shining armour and she, forced to take the role of damsel in distress hated every minute. If she told him the truth what would he say? He'd been entrusted to guard the master emerald, his duty and his responsibility. Would he understand if she told him that she had run away from hers? She felt a hand on her shoulder, startled she locked eyes with the echidna.

At length she finally began her story, slowly at first. She talked about Chiroptera, the colony and Scaris watching every nod and movement he made. He seemed to be taking it all quite well there was no anger or judgement he just listened. Rouge had never spoken to anyone this way before the relief hit her like a wave. She sped up unable to stop herself her words like water pouring from a jug.

Throughout Knuckles got the distinct impression the bat was telling him some pretty personal stuff. It was just that he hardly understood two words of it. What was a traitor? What did all this talk of hierarchies and emotional blackmail mean? Rouge wanted to be a treasure hunter not a princess that was the bottom line. She was having family trouble that made sense. She didn't want to be forced to marry Scaris and for some daft reason couldn't fight him herself. He rubbed his temples softly his brain was beginning to hurt. If he wanted to get home by tonight he would have to teach Scaris a lesson first.

"Come on," he said with a deep sigh. "I can't be the best treasure hunter in the world if I've got no one to compete against right?"

Rouge leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Before Knuckles knew what had happened she giggled and took off into the air.


	4. The Fight

Chiroptera was unimpressed by Knuckles and his attitude. When asked why he was fighting Scaris, the echidna snarled at her to mind her own business. When asked if he understood why _Rouge_ wasn't fighting Scaris, again she was warned that this was business between treasure hunters. Her plan to disgrace Rouge had failed.

Knuckles had completely lost track of time since he had entered the caves. The arena was surrounded with a faint glowing yellow light. The female bats had placed small lanterns around the cave to allow Chiroptera to see clearly. He was glad that more light was available this time around since he wouldn't be allowed to use the stalactites as weapons anymore.

Scaris was perched upside down on a nearby wall. His shaggy green fur had been combed and he wore a black bandana tied around his forehead. Knuckles noticed he was still sporting the small dagger in his utility belt. He would have to be on his guard.

So the battle began Scaris took flight into the air a few metres above the echidna. Knuckles began to climb the wall with speed for some extra height and prepared to make a glide attack. Suddenly a flash of pulsing white light was coming towards him. The ball of light smashed into the wall with great force sending a rain of debris across the whole arena. Knuckles had dashed across to the other side in the nick of time.

An attack from behind slammed Knuckles onto the floor, this was followed by a sharp kick to the ribs. Scaris made to dive on top of his opponent only to be greeted by dust. Knuckles grabbed the bat's large ears and pulled hard. The resulting scream echoed around the caves and Scaris thrashed out from side to side in anger. It was all Knuckles could do to recover from the sever winding he'd received moments before.

As the echidna let go Scaris spun around,

"How DARE you!" He exclaimed. "You're going to pay for that with your life!"

With this he charged into the air with a spinning turning kick and struck one of the nearby rocks. Knuckles began to throw smaller rocks at the young bat until he stopped kicking. He timed his throws just right to let the last rock sail towards its target and then dug under the ground to meet Scaris, with a devastating upper cut punch. His opponent staggered towards the wall and wiped his arm across his blood stained lips.

"Got yourself a tough one here sweet heart." He smiled unpleasantly at Rouge and spat.

With renewed determination Scaris decided that close combat might work better than fighting from a distance. He took his dagger with a firm grip and sliced towards his enemy. Knuckles dodged to the left and then jumped from spot to spot avoiding the deadly weapon but the bat was still unnervingly quick.

"Stay still!" Scaris grunted hacking and carving up the air where Knuckles had been seconds before.

"How about we settle this without your little toy?" Knuckles gritted his teeth and caught the bat's arm dragging it to the side before slamming the whole limb into the wall.

Scaris dropped the dagger and clutched his arm in agony. As a counter he attacked with a front snap kick with lightning speed into Knuckles' chest. Next he threw grit into the echidna's eyes and withdrew to a safe distance. He took the black bandana and wrapped it around his arm pulling it tight.

Knuckles' eyes were streaming and it was extremely painful to blink. He held out his arms looking for a wall to stand against and get his bearings but he was in the very centre of the arena. He clutched his chest trying to breathe and conserve his energy.

"I need to start blocking a little more." He muttered to himself.

"Knux - get your arse in gear!" Rouge cursed. She watched as her grandmother folded her arms and smiled to herself. If Knuckles didn't win Rouge would have no choice but to stay and become the new chieftain.

This time Scaris wrestled his opponent to the ground and began punching him again and again. Knuckles curled into a ball and threw the bat onto the hard ground. He held up his arms to protect his chest and focused on waiting for an opening.

Scaris promptly swept his legs underneath Knuckles and knocked him the ground. He was laughing now thoroughly enjoying the crunching sound as the echidna landed. He picked up the echidna by the dreadlocks and swung him around several time before letting go.

Knuckles felt ill and could feel a trickle of blood pouring from the side of his head. Scaris had also succeeded in pulling off one of his prized red dreadlocks. He looked at Rouge who was genuinely horrified by the scene. Scaris was hysterical catching the lock of hair from one hand to the other and declaring his victory.

"That is IT!" Knuckles yelled and slammed into Scaris crashing the pair onto the floor. Unexpectedly the floor gave way leading to another chamber underneath. The fighters fell through and landed roughly. Knuckles held the bat down in a headlock he could hear the chokes and splutters of his opponent as he struggled against the tight grip.

"Seems I'm facing a little déjà vu!" Scaris hissed between gasping breaths. "These caves are so fragile it's very easy to have an accident if you're not careful."

"What are you talking about Scaris?" Knuckles released his grip and pushed him away.

"Kathleen disapproved of me as a potential partner I had to make sure the inheritance was mine no matter what."

At this point it appeared Scaris was one sandwich short of a picnic. Whether the concussion to his head was starting to affect him or he was just plain mad Knuckles couldn't tell. He felt that staying here with Scaris in such a mind state was not a smart idea.

"What did you do Scaris?" Knuckles spoke slowly and quietly so the others could not hear. The whole colony had surrounded the gaping hole where Knuckles and his opponent had fallen through.

"The cave in - it was my doing."

"You murdered someone?" Knuckles backed away from the bat taking it all in. "How could you kill one of your own people like that?"

"Well it doesn't matter because you will not leave here to tell another soul!"

Another fizzing white ball of energy exploded from Scaris and Knuckles had to dive out the way. He was beginning to regret more than ever waking up this morning and following Rouge on a wild goose chase for an ancient echidna scroll. The walls surrounding them were beginning to crumble the whole top layer of the colony was becoming unstable. More rocks began to pour into the chamber sending dust and grit into the air. Knuckles and Scaris were still fighting amongst it all leaving Rouge and Chiroptera to sound an evacuation.

"Collect all the pups and get to the outside quickly! The whole place is going under!" Chiroptera barked.

"What about Scaris and Knuckles?" Rouge shouted over the chaos.

"Tell them to get out of here. The battle will be over for them both if they're crushed!"

As the evacuation began Rouge flew down to the next chamber shielding her eyes looking for any sign of the two fighters. She spotted them a few yards away still punching and kicking completely unaware that death was staring them in the face. One of Scaris' wings had been torn off and her knight in shining armour was sporting several nasty looking wounds himself.

"Knuckles the whole place is coming down. We need to go!"

"What about the fight?" Knuckles yelled back, dodging yet another low kick at the same time.

"Forget it! I need to fly you out of here right now!"

"Time to go Scaris," Knuckles said firmly to the battered green bat.

"What's wrong echidna can't finish what you started? I'm not going anywhere!"

Scaris was making a last ditch attempt to win the fight. If he couldn't become leader he wasn't going to let Rouge or Knuckles escape either.


	5. A Heroic Knight's Reward

With the walls caving in around them Knuckles was desperate to put an end to this episode. Scaris relentlessly attacked with combinations of kicks and punches but there was no way he could keep that pace up. Blood was flying from his mouth and he hastily kept wiping his eyes as they became clouded by the falling debris. Were they going to make it out alive?

Knuckles saw his chance and leapt into action he smacked down hard on Scaris' head with enough force to hopefully knock him unconscious but not actually crack upon his skull! The bat collapsed onto the floor but he was still breathing.

"Take him back to the surface while I climb back up." Knuckles said to Rouge.

"What? Are you crazy? You won't make it back up there! We'll leave this piece of trash behind and save ourselves."

"We can't just leave him here! Just take him," Knuckles pleaded placing a shaking hand on her shoulder. "I'm exhausted I can't climb back up with him as well please Rouge?"

Reluctantly she took to the skies and disappeared amongst the falling rocks.

The lower chamber was now turning into a deadly pit filling up with boulders and larger rocks falling from the cave ceiling. The bats were leaving in their hundreds high above getting to the surface as fast as they could.

Knuckles' arms felt like jelly and his hands were aching but he couldn't pause now he had to find someway to get out. He tried digging in a clear spot to get away from the falling rocks and was met by a loud 'clang'. Knuckles retrieved his fist from the ground and brought out stones with glistening white fragments embedded inside – diamonds. This part of the floor was crammed with diamonds! If only Rouge had stuck around…

"Okay no time for treasure looks like we're going up."

He took it slowly at first getting a firm grip and laboriously began the long climb. He tried not to punch into the rock too hard as his knuckles were throbbing in agony but the rocks continued to rain down on him and if he wasn't fast enough they were going to knock him off the wall. As he dragged his weary body up the rock face he thought he might actually make it.

When Knuckles came to his senses he was at the bottom of the pit again. Having been caught by a shower of smaller stones he'd lost his grip and fell. Things were not looking promising as he began to cough and choke with the dust. This wasn't the location he had envisaged to be his final resting place and if Sonic ever found out he would have a laughing fit. Death didn't frighten Knuckles, he imagined that all the burning questions in his head about his people and the floating island would finally be answered. His spirit would become one with the master emerald but he wouldn't see Rouge ever again. This thought saddened more than he expected.

"Do you require a lift?" A familiar snotty voice shouted out amongst the filth.

Knuckles felt himself being lifted up by the stomach and flying up into the air. It was a crazy ride Chiroptera was dancing and diving all over the place to get past the shooting rocks. As they made it back onto the higher tier they spotted two familiar figures struggling. Scaris had woken up.

"Get your hands off me you stinking rat." Rouge slapped Scaris across the face but he just leered at her and smiled.

"This isn't over you bitch! You're never going to leave the bat colony – you hear me?" At this he began to drag Rouge back towards the collapsing tunnels.

"Get the hell off her!" Knuckles yelled, "That's the last time you call her a bitch. You hear **_me_**?" He knocked Scaris from his feet and pulled Rouge protectively behind him. His face was like thunder and Rouge astonished by his words couldn't help but blush.

"You should come with us Scaris if you want to save your own hide." Chiroptera reasoned with the younger bat. "It's over, you can't do anymore now. Come with me."

But Scaris shook his head and moved backwards towards the edge of the platform. The others watched in horror as he continued to walk deliberately backwards. Chiroptera turned away and with haste made her way towards the tunnel entrance. She did not wait for Rouge, the whole community would need guidance and calming down. This ordeal would come as a great shock to many.

Rouge peered over the edge and spotted Scaris falling to his death. His arms were crossed over his body and his face a picture of horrific serenity. For the first time in his troubled young life he was content to leave the world behind. She felt no regret, only pity for her former childhood friend. It was he who had taught her how to skim stones so well all those years ago. She couldn't understand what had happened to him to make him turn into such a monster. Knuckles took her hand leading her away from the mayhem and destruction, she didn't protest.

Chiroptera watched as the tunnel entrance caved in there was no way Rouge and the echidna could escape now. The young pups were whimpering as the females tried to sooth their cries. The males stood expectantly awaiting the orders of their elderly leader.

"What is to become of us now?" They asked.

"We shall build a new colony. Salvage what we can and rebuild the foundations of course. We shall also elect a new heir to take my place, but do not worry my friends there is plenty of time for all that. We need a scouting party to look for a new home any volunteers?"

All members of the colony raised their hands and Chiroptera gazed at them proudly.

It was the hour before dawn in nearby Hill Top Zone. Below a small patch of dirt began to shake and rumble, slowly at first and then with gathering momentum the whole floor shook. A single white fist pierced the ground and sent a shower of turf and mud into the air.

"Just made it." Knuckles gasped hoisting himself out of the muddy hole and collapsing on his back. He couldn't do anymore, that was it he'd have to sleep for at least a week before he could move again. Rouge slid by his side and began to caress his dreadlocks fondly. Knuckles by this point was too tired to be embarrassed, he relaxed. She let her fingers play with his hair he shivered slightly feelings of electric touch washing over his head.

The stars overhead twinkled brightly and a light breeze blew. After such a long day it was nice to take it all in. Just lying there keeping each other company felt quite natural. Knuckles sighed deeply and looked towards the bat's direction. She was looking at him intensely her aqua eyes shining in the moonlight. He smiled shyly back unsure how to respond. She rubbed her nose lightly against his and tilted her head just ever so slightly so their lips brushed against each other.

Transfixed Knuckles couldn't tear himself away. What was she playing at? He didn't want this to be another game he couldn't bear to think that she might teasing him. Inexperienced and vulnerable he was desperate to pull away and run back to the floating island with its hard stone floor and coldness of the master emerald. He didn't move Rouge pressed her lips over his and began to kiss him slowly. It was so soft and tender Knuckles couldn't hide his surprise, he put his palm between them but Rouge guided it to her waist instead.

She was still kissing him gently. Fireworks were exploding in his mind. Instinct was taking over in waves of hungry yearning but still he resisted. He didn't want to give in what would happen? These feelings were overpowering and frightening, his first kiss was turning into a battle of wills. His hands wandered to her face and began to stroke the soft white fur. She didn't flinch only responded by wrapping his strong arms around her neck and kissed him harder. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care what happened he wanted it to happen right now.

So he sat up and began to kiss her in return. It was Rouge's turn for surprise as he pulled her close his arms formed a protective cocoon around her. He caressed her long ears and for the first time during a kiss she closed her eyes allowing herself to become lost in the moment.


End file.
